# Mixing blends.....Do you?



## smokinmojo (Jan 24, 2005)

I think we all do it from time to time. Tonight I mixed 30% Ravens wing with 70%Christmas Cheer 06. ( I know this is blasphemy to either english or virginia fans) The RW took the nip out of the CC and added further sweetness with the syrian tobacco.p


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## IHT (Dec 27, 2003)

i've done it once, but i don't recall what i did it with.


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## croatan (Mar 23, 2005)

I used to do it a whole lot, with varying degrees of success. One of my travel pouches is a kitchen sink type thing where I'll mix just about anything together.


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## dayplanner (Dec 11, 1997)

I used to, but the results were always less than good.


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## Guest (Jan 26, 2007)

Yeah some times you have to. Been working with a tin of Royal Cajun Ebony on a couple of different blends because alone i find it way too sweet. Good results so far.


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## Nooner (Feb 22, 2005)

Someday I would like to be able to blend and create stuff I like, but I don't have the confidence to try yet.


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## KyLongbeard (Nov 13, 2006)

My B&M does it and I've been trying to get with him when he does so I can learn more about it.


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## burninator (Jul 11, 2006)

A few times, when I've had an aromatic that was just a bit too strongly flavored, I've tried mixing a little burley to calm it down.


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## Don Fernando (Jan 1, 2000)

When I am in the mood for an aromatic, I mix a little heavily-cased black cavendish in my 1792 Flake.


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## F. Prefect (Jan 14, 2007)

monsoon said:


> When I am in the mood for an aromatic, I mix a little heavily-cased black cavendish in my 1792 Flake.


I do almost exactly the same thing, although I sometimes cringe when mixing good aged Virginia leaf with some 15.00/lb aromatic, but once every couple of years or so, I may actually create something that's truly enjoyablep

More than anything else, it's given me a much greater appreciation for the skills of a talented blender.

F. Prefect


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## Millow (Dec 30, 2005)

When it gets warm enough for a bowl again, and after I dremel out the old nasty cake from my last pipe purchase (which was like 3 months ago... I'm lazy) I plan to try a mix of Peterson Sunset Breeze (only got a little left, thats why) and MacBaren Vanilla Cream.


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## Carbide357 (Dec 23, 2006)

Root said:


> Yeah some times you have to. Been working with a tin of Royal Cajun Ebony on a couple of different blends because alone i find it way too sweet. Good results so far.


 This morning when I got into work I mixed up some Ebony with some C&D Bayou Morning Flake. Bayou Morning is a bit on the light side for me but the Ebony Perked it right up. I layered it in the bowl instead of mixing it up though. Ill have to try it again tommorrow.


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## Demented (Nov 7, 2006)

I tried it shortly after I started smoking a pipe, turned out even worse then what I started with. I trashed the tobacco and never tried mixing again.


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## dayplanner (Dec 11, 1997)

Opened up a 2 oz tin of Frog Morton OTT last week, and 3 or puffs into the first bowl I knew it was too mild for me. Had a baggie with about an ounce of Frog Morton in it that Stacey had gifted me - I really dig it too. Was thinkin' about the OTT yesterday, what to do with it and all, and suddenly thought *"what would smokinmojo do"? *So i dumped the rest of the tin of OTT and the rest of the Frog Morton in a mason jar and capped her off. Just finishing a bowl of it now and, to my surprise, it's a very darn good mixture.


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## dayplanner (Dec 11, 1997)

If anyone is really interested in "experimenting" -

http://tobaccoblending.com/tobacco_blending_hybrid_blends_2.htm


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## F. Prefect (Jan 14, 2007)

Demented said:


> I tried it shortly after I started smoking a pipe, turned out even worse then what I started with. I trashed the tobacco and never tried mixing again.


I know the feeling, as I'm sure many of us do as well. I'm lucky if I hit 1 in 5 that actually produces something I end up smoking all of.

But most of my experimental blending is done with a tobacco that I bought on sale and simply didn't care for so any improvement is a plus. 2 or 3 months ago I bought 100 gr. of Mac Baren Burley London Blend that smoked OK, no bite whatsoever, but being 100% Burley, I found it to be a bit bland even after adding about 3 or 4% Perque. After I had smoked about 25% of the tin I finished rubbing it out to a size that was more managable and after mixing a couple of test bowls which were an improvement, I replaced the the Burley I had already smoked with Altadis Z-50. Sounds godawful bad, but it probably salvaged the remaining Burley in a 10.00 tin.

I have another tin of Mac Baren Golden Extra which is an unflavored Burley very similar to London Blend, that will get the same treatment, although probably with different "additives". It's fun, and I almost always use a tobacco that will end up getting tossed anyway, and as was the case here, ended up with something better. (at least to my screwy taste buds)p

I'm casually acquainted with several blenders and there is NO doubt that I would ever make the grade, but as the old saying goes, a blind sow happens to get lucky once in a while.

F. Prefect


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## Demented (Nov 7, 2006)

F. Prefect said:


> I know the feeling, as I'm sure many of us do as well. I'm lucky if I hit 1 in 5 that actually produces something I end up smoking all of.
> 
> But most of my experimental blending is done with a tobacco that I bought on sale and simply didn't care for so any improvement is a plus. 2 or 3 months ago I bought 100 gr. of Mac Baren Burley London Blend that smoked OK, no bite whatsoever, but being 100% Burley, I found it to be a bit bland even after adding about 3 or 4% Perque. F. Prefect


I can see how blending with 100% Burley, Virginia or any other pure tobacco could end with better results than mixing to blends.

Tried this before I had started smoking English blends, have no clue what it might have been.


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## dayplanner (Dec 11, 1997)

Yesterday I blended 1.5 ozs Latakia with 1.5 ozs of Va. 5100 and 3/4 oz of perique in a mason jar, put it on boil for 15 mins. Gonna let it sit about a month before I try it.


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## F. Prefect (Jan 14, 2007)

cquon said:


> Yesterday I blended 1.5 ozs Latakia with 1.5 ozs of Va. 5100 and 3/4 oz of perique in a mason jar, put it on boil for 15 mins. Gonna let it sit about a month before I try it.


You may have gone a little overboard on the the Perique. Some Latakia/Virginia blends may contain as much as 50% Latakia, but most VaPers will usually contain no more than 5% Perique. A little of that stuff goes a long way and that should be a very interesting blend to say the least.

I'll probably get some disagreement here, but it's been my experience there is no need to heat the Mason jars in order to pull the lid down and pops when the pressure drops. All that is needed is a lid with a good undamaged rubber seal and of course an undamged jar.

The real reason for the "pop" down lid is that it will allow it to pop back up if something such as bacteria is growing within the contents of the jar. The growth of the bacteria will cause a production of gases, thus increasing the pressure and poping the lid back up in the position it was before it was allowed to cool and the lid would pop down.

So when your Grandmother took a jar of canned tomatoes out of cubbard and when she checked the lid was not in the down position, it was a warning that the food inside has spoiled and is unsafe to eat. Since none of this is really necessary when dealing with the storage of tobacco, you really can forego the lid poping exercise usless you want to be 100% sure. How do you tell if you don't have a good seal? You can smell it. But if you have used new lids, the chance of their being a leak of a size that could dry out the contents is very remote. p

F. Prefect


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## IHT (Dec 27, 2003)

IHT said:


> i've done it once, but i don't recall what i did it with.


after reading my review on bracken flake... 
i mixed bracken flake with penzance. i've never taken "blending tobacs" and attempted to make my own.


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## Canadian_Scott (Feb 11, 2007)

I haven't had great success blending hybrids over the years...

I usually only do it if I have nothing better to do with an evening and have a bunch of something lying around that I know I'll never smoke. Like this one pouch of Mac Baren's Plumcake that I bought. It's still in a mason jar and I just toss anything that I don't particularly want to smoke in there. Maybe eventually it'll taste half decent 

I do blend my Frog Morton though. The regular stuff is a little bland on my palette (or maybe it's a lack of nicotine? I don't know), so I add about a third of a tin of Dunhill London Mixture to a full tin of Frog Morton for a bit of a punch.


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## Fullbent (Jan 31, 2007)

I toss the dregs of each tin into a mason jar, mixing it thouroughly as I go until the jar is full. Does that count? p


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## Demented (Nov 7, 2006)

Has anyone tried Stoving a blend?

While smoking the third biting bowl of Mac Baren plumcake this morning, I started reading about processing tobacco. It seems stoving is a technique used to mellow a tobacco or blend.

Removed the tobacco from the tin, rubbed it out where needed and sprayed a little distilled water on each layer as it was repacked and pressed back into the tin. Preheated the oven to 250° set a timer for 1 hour, 40 more minutes I’ll take it our to cool.

I’ll open the tin this evening and see what happens.

Baked plumcake?


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## smokinmojo (Jan 24, 2005)

Demented said:


> Has anyone tried Stoving a blend?
> 
> While smoking the third biting bowl of Mac Baren plumcake this morning, I started reading about processing tobacco. It seems stoving is a technique used to mellow a tobacco or blend.
> 
> ...


I have never had good results with stoving.(im sure the results were typical stoved tobacco) I just dont care for it much......200* and 200 mins.


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## Demented (Nov 7, 2006)

I opened the tin, the tobacco is darker in color then before (set some aside for comparison), yet the aroma is Pretty much the same. It was on the dry side before baking it, had I not added a bit of water to it before baking it I’m sure it would be toast at this point.

Sprinkled tobacco to the top of the bowl then pressed it about half way down before the charring light, let it set a moment before the second match, fire right up, it needs to be hydrated a bit.

The flavor is pretty much the same, yet somewhat mellowed and it burns a bit cooler too (less tongue bite). Put it in a jar with one of those dip in water thingies and will smoke a bit each day over the next week to see how it changes.

I’m thinking the tongue bite might be the way I smoke. Been smoking a moist Cavendish for a long time, it typically requires a bit of puffing to keep it going, this tobacco is much dryer then I keep the English blend I smoke.

It may be I simply need to hydrate the tobacco a bit, then learn how to smoke it.

On another track… 

I’d posted that the pipe I use to get tobacco from was gone, I found them today.

The 1994 earthquake wrecked there shop, so they moved. I only got out there every 3 or 4 months, so when I went buy and it was a different store I fingered they had gone under.

Spent about an hour there today talking to the son of the man who sold me my first pipe in 1982. I’m happy to have found my favorite Cavendish, err… shop again (bought a pound while I was there).


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## IHT (Dec 27, 2003)

bumpinstein.

been thinking about doing this the past couple days.
what crawled up my ass? well, i was at work and the only pipe i had to fill was my nose warmer Stanwell Golden Danish, which is dedicated to G&H Dark Flake (unscented) - y'know, with a heavy dose of that Malawi fire cured leaf from africa. what did i put in there? davidoff flake medallions, a va/per.

it was one of the best tasting bowls i'd had in a long time.

so, it got me to thinking, i've got nearly 4 oz of this dark flake, and some tobacs need some "zing" to 'em. but i don't want to overpower 'em.

if i were to design my own blend, i think it would be a healthy dose of the sweetest bright virginias around, a dash of the malawi fire cured leaf, and about the same dash of perique that's found in Escudo. so, basically Escudo with a hint of strong ass Malawi.

i need to get some mason jars and start mixing some of my own stuff.


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## Mad Hatter (Apr 8, 2007)

Yep, I had four Dunhill blends that I didn't like at all, Mixtures Mild and Medium, Nightcap and Early Morning Pipe and some dry, low nic houseblend of Balkan Sasieni so I dumped them all together and the end product is a bit more smokable. I have about 1 bowl a month and I only have about 3/4 pound left.



At this rate it'll be gone in another five years



Yeah Greg I did that too. I have a second hand pipe that always took PS Georgian Cream or Champagne before I bought it and I've been smoking my tin of Golden Extra through that also.
Its much better that way.


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## smokinmojo (Jan 24, 2005)

Timely bump! I was going to post in "tonights smoke" this afternoon, a hybrid English 
(Ashton old London Pebblecut, Esoterica Penzance/Smokershaven Krumble Kake, McClellands Blackwoods Flake,McClelland 2015, C&D Kajun Kake, MaC Baren Vintage Syrian and McClellands Grand Orientals Yenidje Supreme)............ 

that I've been working on the past few months. I seem to mix tobacco like I cook. (no end to what I'll try and how much I'll waste.) 


The blend is big in Latakia, big in orientals, big in Virginia's and big in perique!

Man thats big!p


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## Cheeto (May 10, 2007)

I've never tried it before, but I'm sure I will eventually, maybe when I'm more experienced.


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## Big T (Dec 8, 2006)

Oh, the things I do when I'm bored. A few weeks ago, I had a tin of MacBarens Roll Cake that bit so badly that it was unsmokeable. I decided to soak it in some Captain Morgan rum and then blend in some burley to cut down on the bite. It actually didn't turn out half bad...


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## IHT (Dec 27, 2003)

smokinmojo said:


> Timely bump! I was going to post in "tonights smoke" this afternoon, a hybrid English
> (Ashton old London Pebblecut, Esoterica Penzance/Smokershaven Krumble Kake, McClellands Blackwoods Flake,McClelland 2015, C&D Kajun Kake, MaC Baren Vintage Syrian and McClellands Grand Orientals Yenidje Supreme)............
> 
> that I've been working on the past few months. I seem to mix tobacco like I cook. (no end to what I'll try and how much I'll waste.)
> ...


oh, i'm not talking "that" big until i get the right mix down. i can picture you with a damn table mixer out, big metal bowls, flour all over the kitchen counter, wearing an aprin that says "kiss the cook".

nah, i'm gonna do small cups. mix like 5 parts Marlin Flake, 1 part Dark Flake, or some crazy crap like that. or some other good straight VA. 
i love the dark flake taste, but there are times when i don't want to be overpowered by it and only get the hints of flavors, not the "shaky knees, holy crap that sh*t is strong", flavors.


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## smokinmojo (Jan 24, 2005)

IHT said:


> oh,
> i love the dark flake taste, but there are times when i don't want to be overpowered by it and only get the hints of flavors, not the "shaky knees, holy crap that sh*t is strong", flavors.


I mixed the last of the DF you sent a while back with Orlik DSK. You know that unscented DF scent is amazing. I can only imagine the scented version. The DSK brought it down a notch, and gave it a little nutty background.


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## Alyks (Jun 2, 2007)

I mixed a coupled of aromatics which I was getting bored with on the count that they were so one dimentional, and thought they could use a little added flavour. Some bulk Vanilla, McC's Columbian coffee flavoured stuff and some straight burley. It's pretty good. The wife likes it cause it's smells like coffee and a little sweet.


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## EvanS (Dec 29, 2006)

so far I have never mixed any blends together.
But what I have taken to doing is running a simple, basic Burley thru and aro-based pipe every so often. A very unique smoke, very old-time smelling, usually ensues. The wife gets reminded of her G'Pa. I usually enjoy the smoke very much as the aro ghosts the Burley a bit, yet the one bowl of Burley doesn't seem to leave anything in the aro pipe


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## smokehouse (Jan 31, 2007)

Never mixed before. I did layer once. I had half a bowl of Mac Baren HH Virginia and half bowl of Stonehaven left so a put the Virginia on the bottom and the Stonehaven on the top. It was good. I would do it again.


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## EvanS (Dec 29, 2006)

smokehouse said:


> Never mixed before. I did layer once. I had half a bowl of Mac Baren HH Virginia and half bowl of Stonehaven left so a put the Virginia on the bottom and the Stonehaven on the top. It was good. I would do it again.


sullying Stonehaven???

well, I never!!


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## fordkustom (Jun 28, 2007)

i do it all the time. i like adding a pinch of oriental english to anything too sweet .


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## smokehouse (Jan 31, 2007)

EvanS said:


> sullying Stonehaven???
> 
> well, I never!!


:r The devil made me do it.


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## Mad Hatter (Apr 8, 2007)

actually one thing I do is stack my tobaccos. I sometimes pack a dull or flavorless tobacco in the bottom of my bowl and then in the top I will add something more flavorful that I think might compliment the weaker tabak as it filters the smoke. Other times I will put a strong tobacco in the bottom and a more subtle tabak in the top. The aroma from the stronger one will enhance the flavor of the weaker one and when I do get burned through to the bottom half of the bowl there is a quick change to another flavor. I've been doing this since I started smoking and it works really well and helps to get rid of tobaccos that otherwise wouldn't get smoked.


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## Mister Moo (Sep 8, 2005)

Maybe this thread was in the back of my mind. Blending coffee toward a good, reliable result is practically impossible. Can't imagine why tobacco would be any easier so I've never tried.

Sunday: had a long wait for spousal unit and a small bag of Byzantium (way deep latakia, roughly cut) and a bag of PS Proper English (sweet, fine ribbon). One is a hair too heavy and the other a hair too light.

Flip/flop - mixed the two. Seemed like it ended up smoking the best parts of both.


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## F. Prefect (Jan 14, 2007)

Mister Moo said:


> Maybe this thread was in the back of my mind. Blending coffee toward a good, reliable result is practically impossible. Can't imagine why tobacco would be any easier so I've never tried.
> 
> Sunday: had a long wait for spousal unit and a small bag of Byzantium (way deep latakia, roughly cut) and a bag of PS Proper English (sweet, fine ribbon). One is a hair too heavy and the other a hair too light.
> 
> Flip/flop - mixed the two. Seemed like it ended up smoking the best parts of both.


Tobacco isn't any easier, probably even more difficult if I had to choose. I have the highest regard for tobacco blenders, but if you could extract the truth, most would probably admit the final touches that will make or break a blend, boils down to mostly trial and error.

Looks like you may have hit the nail on the head with the first swing of the hammer. What are you going to call it? Moogoo has a nice ring to it.:tu

F. Prefect


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## Kayak_Rat (Nov 28, 2005)

smokinmojo said:


> Timely bump! I was going to post in "tonights smoke" this afternoon, a hybrid English
> (Ashton old London Pebblecut, Esoterica Penzance/Smokershaven Krumble Kake, McClellands Blackwoods Flake,McClelland 2015, C&D Kajun Kake, MaC Baren Vintage Syrian and McClellands Grand Orientals Yenidje Supreme)............
> 
> that I've been working on the past few months. I seem to mix tobacco like I cook. (no end to what I'll try and how much I'll waste.)
> ...


Is this the blend you sent me?? It was labeled Hybrid English. I finished it up last night and never got a bad bowl out of it. I have also never had the flavors really jump out that much.


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## Mister Moo (Sep 8, 2005)

F. Prefect said:


> Tobacco isn't any easier... What are you going to call it?


*Beginner's Luck*


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## F. Prefect (Jan 14, 2007)

Mister Moo said:


> *Beginner's Luck*


Ah, ya gotta give yourself a little credit. I probably only hit on one smokable mixture out of 50 attempts. Maybe beginners luck does fit the bill about as well as anything else.

It's kind of funny how you can take a couple of aromatic blends that aren't all that bad by themselves and no matter what ratio is tried, the result is only fit for the trashcan. Beginners luck or not, enjoy your creation.:blp

PS Give this one a try. 50.3% Altadis B-30, 44.7% Lane BCA, 1% Perique, 4% infused N2O. Yummy.:tu My patent attorney says I should soon be laughing all the way to the bank.

F. Prefect


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## smokinmojo (Jan 24, 2005)

Kayak_Rat said:


> Is this the blend you sent me?? It was labeled Hybrid English. I finished it up last night and never got a bad bowl out of it. I have also never had the flavors really jump out that much.


I'd like to say its close, but probably not. The last to parts I added were the Vintage Syrian and Grand Orientals. I really liked it before........Now I'm thinking about putting baby Intercom on the jar.....so I can hear it age!


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## Mister Moo (Sep 8, 2005)

Mad Hatter said:


> actually one thing I do is stack my tobaccos. I sometimes pack a dull or flavorless tobacco in the bottom of my bowl and then in the top I will add something more flavorful that I think might compliment the weaker tabak as it filters the smoke...


In fact I like both Byzantium and Proper English at different times; while a blend of the two also works for me, stacking sounds like a hoot with these two. I will have a go.


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## Mad Hatter (Apr 8, 2007)

Mister Moo said:


> In fact I like both Byzantium and Proper English at different times; while a blend of the two also works for me, stacking sounds like a hoot with these two. I will have a go.


Duly honored to be an inspiration to such an esteemed college such as yourself. Let us know how it turns out

Today I did mix some SR Twist, Plumcake and a Dunhill latakia/Perique together and it was goos also, but needed a touch of sweet VA


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## Mister Moo (Sep 8, 2005)

Mad Hatter said:


> Duly honored to be an inspiration to such an esteemed college such as yourself. Let us know how it turns out
> 
> Today I did mix some SR Twist, Plumcake and a Dunhill latakia/Perique together and it was goos also, but needed a touch of sweet VA


OK - I finally did the stack in a large Brakner: PS Proper English south and Byzantium north. The heavy Byz, I figured too late, would probably soak into the gentler PS and muck it up. Halfway thru the quality and quantity of smoke changed in a matter of a few puffs. The Proper English was, in fact, muddled up to the heavy side. Not bad - not great.

I will have a redo later in the week, same pipe, with the tobaks reversed. Thanks for the stack idea. Interesting change of pace - something to wonder about thru the pipe.


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## agony (Sep 27, 2007)

I thought that Old Gowrie was a bit too 'cigaretty' in it's flavor profile, and found that my big bag of Old Ironsides was too 'latakia-heavy'. So I mixed up a mason jar, 50:50. Put it aside for the past three weeks, and smoked my first bowl of it this week. Smoked and tasted great.


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## Mad Hatter (Apr 8, 2007)

Awesome Moo. I actually do that alot for varying reasons, but didn't think it was an original idea. It still amazes me how there is almost no mixing nor gradual transition from one flavor to the other, but as you said, in just a couple of puffs. I really enjoy doing this at times with almost all of my tabaks. Let me know how it works out.
Joe



Mister Moo said:


> OK - I finally did the stack in a large Brakner: PS Proper English south and Byzantium north. The heavy Byz, I figured too late, would probably soak into the gentler PS and muck it up. Halfway thru the quality and quantity of smoke changed in a matter of a few puffs. The Proper English was, in fact, muddled up to the heavy side. Not bad - not great.
> 
> I will have a redo later in the week, same pipe, with the tobaks reversed. Thanks for the stack idea. Interesting change of pace - something to wonder about thru the pipe.


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